


Baking Bread

by vogue91



Category: Arashi (Band), Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Baking, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 18:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14338500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vogue91/pseuds/vogue91
Summary: That was why now he was mixing the ingredients, lost in his world as usual, his mind emptied from any kind of thought. .Just like when he painted, like when he fished. Like when he couldn’t sleep at night, and watched Nino next to him.





	Baking Bread

Flour.

Water.

Yeast.

What else?

Oh, yes. Salt.

He couldn’t even imagine how much he would’ve complained if he had forgotten salt.

Even though it was likely he was going to find a reason to complain anyway.

That, instead of discouraging him, made him smile.

Nino could be incredibly irritating when he wanted, but after all these years he had grown accustomed to it. On the contrary, he would’ve felt weird if he had tried to be more kind, more human... it would’ve been less Nino, he wouldn’t have recognized him.

Knead, knead, knead.

His hands hurt, but he was smiling.

He liked baking bread, even though now it had been long since he had last had time to do so.

It reminded him of when he was a kid, when his mother showed him how to knead, how to shape it. He had always had fun with little things.

He hadn’t thought about it for a while, except for those times he expressed his desire to become a baker, just to be punctually mocked.

Then, Nino had made that request.

He had gone down to the kitchen that Sunday morning, his face sleepy. He had leant over the table, staring at him.

Perhaps, he was naively waiting for Ohno to say something.

When he had realized it wasn’t going to happen, he decided to talk.

 _“Will you bake bread?”_ he had asked. Ohno had kept staring, confused.

 _“Why?”_ he had asked, and he thought it was the logical question. Nino had rolled his eyes, then shrugged.

 _“I always hear you say you like to bake bread, that you wished you were a baker, but I’ve never seen you do it. I’d like to.”_ he had explained, as if it was obvious.

And Ohno had just nodded, as if he still couldn’t understand.

That was why now he was mixing the ingredients, lost in his world as usual, his mind emptied from any kind of thought. .

Just like when he painted, like when he fished. Like when he couldn’t sleep at night, and watched Nino next to him.

They were all things that made his feel alright, that made him feel weirdly happy. That he loved.

In a corner of the kitchen, crouched down on a chair, Nino kept looking at him, captivated, but Ohno was barely aware of it.

Just for a moment he raised his eyes, meeting the younger’s; Nino was smiling, the usual smile hiding a billion thoughts running through his mind.

So different from his own, spontaneous, lacking any further meaning.

“What?” Nino asked, raising his eyebrows in the attempt of looking innocent. Ohno shrugged, and went back kneading.

Knead, knead, knead. Until the flour became one with the water. Until all the ingredients blended, just like his mother reminded him when he was a kid.

When he was done he stopped for a moment, staring at the dough, satisfied.

He heard Nino laughing, and looked at him again.

“What?” was his time to ask. The man looked at him, and couldn’t stop laughing.

“You’ve just looked at that like a mother watches her children.” he pointed out, making him smile.

He covered the dough, setting it aside, and then collapsed on a chair next to Nino; the other man stared, as if waiting for something.

“Well? What are you doing now?” he asked, as if offended.

“I wait. The dough must rise before I can make bread.” he replied, as if it was (and _it was_ , he thought) obvious.

Nino glared, and Ohno felt like smiling to that expression, but just shrugged, as if saying that leavening wasn’t his fault.

Ninomiya rested his chin on the table, looking at the bowl on the counter, and there Ohno couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing.

“What?” Nino’s tone was annoyed, but Ohno doubted there was something that could actually destroy his good mood.

“It takes a while for it to rise, I doubt that staring at the bowl is going to make the process any faster.” all he got as an answer, was the throwing of a slipper.

Against all odds, he got up, around the table and pressed his lips on his, still smiling.

Nino winced, pushing him away.

“I can always try.” he muttered in the end, getting back in the same position.

Ohno, again, didn’t reply, nor he did anything else; he could’ve distracted him but, in the end, he liked seeing him like that more than he should’ve.

 

~

 

He chewed and chewed and chewed.

His face was weirdly undecipherable, something he wasn’t used to at all.

He was starting to feel... anxious, somehow?

Perfectly justified, seen the scarce importance of the situation.

He felt like when he showed his drawings to someone; the panic he felt those moments when he wasn’t able to understand whether what he had created was going to be liked or not.

And hadn’t there been that veil of agitation, he would’ve likely laughed of himself, while now he just looked at Nino, who seemed to have fun chewing, just to see expectation grow on the older man’s face.

“Mh.” he murmured at some point. Ohno raised his eyebrows, faking nonchalance.

Then Nino smiled, of one of those smiles he couldn’t help but loving and hating at the same time, one of those that never made him understand if he was serious or was making fun of him.

“It’s not bad.” he said in the end, grinning.

Ohno knew he wasn’t getting anything better from, and somehow he was glad about it.

Again he smiled, and again he kissed him.

After a moment of hesitation, Nino shook his head, as if resigned, and brushed his face, still eating his bread, more and more convinced.

“So?” Ohno asked all of a sudden, relishing how relaxed he was feeling.

“So what? I already said it’s not bad!” the other replied, glaring. Ohno laughed, lightly.

“Yes, but... can I be a baker?”

Nino stared at him, an eyebrow raised; a split second, and Ohno was pushed away.

Everything back to normal, all in all.

Pushes, complaints, annoyance.

But, this time, they were both smiling.

He should’ve baked more often, if that was the result.

He should’ve baked bread more often, yes. Even with Nino in a corner watching.

And, after all, he knew he couldn’t have helped it anyway; it was something that truly made him feel like home.


End file.
